A DNR official says Input from local citizens helped shape a deer hunting plan that is different from recent hunts.
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board this week approved a 2019 framework that doesn't include any buck-only counties for the first time since 2009. No counties requested a buck-only season suggesting the herd numbers are healthy statewide.
Northeast District Wildlife Supervisor Jeff Pritzl says the County Deer Advisory Councils did much to help this year..
"..One of the resounding successes of the CDAC program is the tone and the tenor of the dialogue is the best I've experienced in 25 years. It has created a platform for productive dialogue going forward and I look forward to seeing where this goes...."
Pritzl says the online input to DNR was large, more than 9,000 messages, but he would like to see more people show up at the CDAC meetings...
"If I have any frustration with the CDAC process, and I know others share that with me, is the actual attendance at the(CDAC) meetings continues to be light. I've been to many CDAC meetings across the state and I've always felt the dialogue that occurs at these meetings has been very engaging and interesting and I think the average deer hunter would find that to be the case..."
A holiday hunt will offer an additional nine days of antlerless-only gun deer hunting across 29 counties within southern and central Wisconsin.
There will be extended archery and crossbow seasons in 22 Wisconsin counties with a holiday hunt - an increase from 12 in 2018.
